- Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda defends his title over 10,000 m at the World Championships in Eugene.
- Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia wins the marathon in a World Championship record time.
- The American Brooke Andersen prevails in the women’s hammer throw.
Defending champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda won gold in the 10,000 m in Eugene. In a race that was tactically shaped for a long time, the 25-year-old prevailed in 27:27.43 minutes after a thrilling final sprint ahead of Stanley Mburu from Kenya (27:27.90). Bronze went to Cheptegei’s compatriot Jacob Kiplimo (27:29.97).
Surprisingly, Olympic champion Selemon Barega from Ethiopia was only fifth. The Ethiopians are record winners over this distance at world championships with 9 titles, four each by Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, but last won 11 years ago. Kenya’s last triumph over the 25 stadium rounds was even 21 years ago.
Tola wins the marathon
In the absence of marathon dominator Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya, Tamirat Tola celebrated his biggest success to date in Eugene. In 2:05:36 hours, the Ethiopian won the World Championship marathon, 1:08 minutes ahead of his compatriot Mosinet Geremew. He set a new world championship record. The Belgian Bashir Abdi secured the bronze medal.
Tola had previously won marathon silver at the 2017 World Championships in London. He finished third in the 10,000m at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Defending champion Lelisa Desisa (ETH) gave up just before the 30 km mark. The Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor came fifth as the best runner in the great marathon nation (2:07:14).
Andersen celebrates home win in the hammer throw
As in the marathon, the big favorite was missing in the women’s hammer throw, Anita Wlodarczyk. The three-time Olympic champion from Poland had to cancel her participation in Eugene after being injured while catching a car thief. Brooke Andersen took advantage of Wlodarczyk’s absence. The American secured the gold medal with a throw of 78.96 m. She clearly referred Camryn Rogers (CAN/75.52) and Janee Kassanavoid (USA/74.86) to the other podium places.